Phoenix emo and alternative band Commoner have released new single Passerby, the latest track from debut album Former Self, which arrives on 13 November 2026 via Pure Noise Records.
The band call Passerby an insistent, urgent rush. Singer Romin Mattison says the song has always had a more literal meaning for the group. “For me, the song is a way to send a personal message to someone I’ll never speak to again, a chance to express everything I once held back.”
Passerby is out now, with a video to watch alongside it. Former Self is available to pre-order now through Pure Noise, including on the label’s Bandcamp, where Cemetery Dogs and Sirens A Block Away are already streaming ahead of the full release.
The album is produced by long-time collaborator Zach Tuch. It looks back at the past while staying just as concerned with moving forward. The band say a former self could be a version of you from a decade ago, or from yesterday, and even in the six months since previous track Breach came out, their style has evolved.
They describe Breach as a stop-gap, an introduction, and a bridge between the past and the present. Former Self, somewhat ironically given its title, is a full-hearted representation of who Commoner are now.
Bassist Matthew Bryant says the record is as much about other people as it is about the band. “The album has a lot of themes of childhood and your own former self, but it also discusses how people around you have changed, and missing somebody else’s former self. We have songs that look back on how you yourself used to be back in the day, but we have songs about how everyone else has changed too.”
Mattison calls the debut a window of reflection. “Former Self is a window of reflection for each of our lives. For what it’s been and how we’ve learned to move forward. People change, situations change, life is full of it. As a band, we have always gravitated towards the works of bands who touch on moments of time as they are your own. Instances in which the experience has felt shared, rather than being preached. Our debut full length was a meditative piece for all of the members, and has allowed us to close a chapter in our writing that we had all felt needed conclusion.”
The ten-track album opens with Cobalt Blue, featuring UK band Split Chain, before Passerby. The full tracklisting is:
- Cobalt Blue (feat. Split Chain)
- Passerby
- In Reserve
- Cemetery Dogs
- Sparks
- Sirens A Block Away
- Runner Up
- Former Self
- As Cold As It Gets
- Appendix
A video for Cemetery Dogs is also out. The band previously said that track had to be the focus single for the record, because themes of losing the connection to an individual’s character you used to know are so apparent. “It’s a crushing thing to witness someone struggle so far beyond your ability to aid, and this track embodies that. This track sets the tone for Former Self, and the themes to follow.”
Commoner are vocalist Romin Mattison, bassist Matthew Bryant, guitarist Beto Marroquin and drummer Tyler Casillo. The Phoenix, Arizona band signed to Pure Noise around the release of Breach, which they said crystallised the sound they had been building towards. UK and European booking is handled by Matt Davies-Kreye.
Image credits: Errick Easterday
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